One of the greatest jiu-jitsu competitors of all-time is attempting a unique challenge when Gabi Garcia battles Craig Jones in an intergender grappling match Saturday at the inaugural Craig Jones Invitational in Las Vegas.
Garcia, a four-time ADCC gold medalist and six-time IBJJF world champion, has teased the idea of battling a decorated male grappler for many years now, but the reward was never worth the risk. Now, Garcia says she’s banking good money to enter the match for the first time against a male competitor.
“He’s revolutionizing the game with this idea,” Garcia told MMA Fighting of Jones. “And for me, it’s good marketing. It’s more than fighting a man. The American audience has never really liked me, you know? I’ve always dealt with hate. And for the first time in my career, I feel 99 percent of the people are on my side. [Laughs.] This is entertainment. If my mom, my grandmother, my aunt sits down to watch a jiu-jitsu tournament, they won’t understand the rules. But if you put Gabi against a man, people want to watch that.”
Garcia expects to be lighter than Jones on Saturday — she said she was standing on a chair when she faced off with Jones for a face-to-face interview that recently went viral in the grappling community. Garcia has a great relationship with Jones, but won’t go easy on him.
“I’ve trained with Craig a few times and he hasn’t submitted me,” Garcia said. “I’m lighter now because I was cutting weight for a MMA fight [in May], so he’s probably heavier than me, but I’m strong. And I’ve told him already, ‘Craig, I have no responsibilities here. I’m going there to beat you and shock the world.’ But reality is, men are stronger.”
The “superfight” will be contested over three five-minute rounds, which Garcia feels favors her opponent. She would’ve rather met in a 15-minute contests with no breaks, but is down for whatever on Saturday.
“The truth is, I don’t think I’ll submit him because he’s really good, but don’t expect me to go easy on him,” Garcia said. “It’s been a long time. … He’s pissing me off for so long I want to smash him. He calls me all the time, he posts about me all the time. Give me a break, Craig! [Laughs.] If I get to a good position, I’ll control the match instead of exposing myself [to a submission] for nothing, of course.
“But I’ll fight as I was taught by my master,” she continued. “Unlike the way Americans grapple, jiu-jitsu was made for us to dominate the opponent. That’s why we pass the guard, we sweep, we get to side control and mount. There’s nothing an opponent can do with me on the mount, he’s completely dominated. I’ll go like a snake, slowly move to get the position and not let him escape. It’s hard to catch him, but I’ll give him a hard time. He’s saying he’ll secure the submission and let me go. That won’t happen, honey. I’ll smash you. I’ll try my best, and we’ll fight for real.”
Garcia said she and Jones received offers from Asia and the United States to face off before, but she only truly considered the idea when Jones mentioned his intentions behind CJI. On top of the money paid to all competitors — on the same weekend ADCC holds it’s traditional show in Las Vegas — Craig told Garcia he’ll be making donations to Rio Grande do Sul, her home state in Brazil that has struggled for months due to floods.
“Craig is one of the most genuine people I know,” Garcia said. “He texted me saying he would donate out of his pocket to Rio Grande do Sul. I agreed as soon as he told me the profits would be donated to charity.”
Garcia said she will give her entire purse to her parents and family members who were affected by the floods, and that’s a lot considering the rumors surrounding her purse.
“I’ve seen people post all kinds of numbers, from $100,000 to $1 million,” Garcia said with a laugh. “I can’t say how much it is because my contract doesn’t allow me to, but it’s more than $200,000. But I’ve already doubled that with sponsors — or tripled, I think.
“This match is going out of the grappling bubble. All of my sponsors are unrelated to jiu-jitsu. The only sponsor I gave from the fight world is Nate Diaz’s Represent. And I was scared that my [clothing] line wouldn’t do well, but it almost sold out in two days.”
According to Garcia, the decision to be on CJI instead of competing at the 2024 ADCC cost her an induction to the promotion’s Hall of Fame. A member of the IBJJF Hall of Fame, Garcia still plans on competing on the ADCC mat again in the future, but stands by her call.
“It wasn’t an easy decision because this is the first time the ADCC has an absolute division for women, which was a dream of mine,” Garcia said. “That and the Hall of Fame, which they took from me, but I never fought for medals in my career. I love challenges. I was always judged throughout my career, I was always the circus clown. The ADCC will be there, I want to fight the absolute champion one day, but we’ll see what happens.”
